Americans pay more attention to this adoption ceremony than people in other countries. In the United States, it is largely because of Americans' romantic attitude towards Oxford and Cambridge universities. Young people there once lived and studied together and formed a lasting identity based on students living in the same building, which must be regarded as an important part of the university experience. Students only spend 12 or 15 hours a week in class, plus several hours of study; The rest time is socializing, fitness, playing games, managing clubs, politics, making music and relaxing with friends. In short, they are building a lifelong relationship and a network that is conducive to their career development.
But the social benefits brought by living on campus and living on campus by Americans are never inevitable. American universities don't always intend to let dormitories bring people together; Over the years, in order to separate student groups, the school has also organized dormitories. In fact, the first residence specially built for college students in the United States was the Indian Institute of Harvard University, which was built by the British Religious Association in the middle of the17th century to accommodate American native students and separate them from white boys.
Although today's life experts believe that diversity is the main reason for living with students, from17th century to the beginning of 20th century, anti-diversity was the norm. Dormitories introduce young people to people like them and fix young women in their families, where they are expected to live in the future. Architects and university leaders put forward physical design to promote these social goals.
Living on Campus: Exploration of Dormitory Architecture in the History of American Dormitory Architecture: American Belief in Education, Youth and Citizenship
During the colonial period, university buildings were usually single and multi-purpose structures, which accommodated all the functions of the school, including the principal's residence, teachers' apartments, students' bedrooms, chapels, libraries, restaurants and classrooms. The first Council of Harvard University reported in 167 1: "As we all know, many people who live together for scholasticism can promote the end of university society by instilling ideas and other concepts into each other, which is good for learning." Christian morality is an important content for male students in colonial universities. The formation of this character is obtained by observing the example, and professors and students enjoy the living space, which is conducive to moral development. This attitude is an intellectual and emotional prerequisite for American student dormitories.
In the 18 and 19 centuries, the unique religious identity in the United States provided continuous motivation for dividing students into dormitories. Britain has an official state religion, the Anglican Church, which dominates life in Oxford and Cambridge. But in the United States, religious freedom is manifested in dozens of sects, each of which wants to have its own college and leave its own moral imprint on its members. Religious leaders often set up small schools in rural areas far away from crime and urban vices; Assign students to live in a dormitory, so that young boys can establish contact with their tutors and strengthen their social ties. Ideally, a young man's roommate has a marriageable young man's second sister, and the relationship is tense again.
Although the dormitory is exclusive, on the whole, the housing subsidized by the university is more democratic than the housing built by the private brotherhood for whites at the end of 19. As the fraternity became more and more popular, they built houses, parties and secret ceremonies on many American campuses. They soon began to dominate the social life of the university. By the 1970s of 19, there was little chance for a non-Greek student (also called "independent student") to become the president of the student union or the first trombone player in the military band. As the historian Nicholas Cirette explained, "Just like any society, including some people, excluding others, it is through this exclusion that the Brotherhood gains prestige."
In order to consolidate their position, the fraternity also raised the boundaries of acceptable student behavior. In Cornell University, University of Michigan and other universities, fraternity lets people know that so-called coeducational students (female college students) are not allowed to attend their parties, and local women are the first guests. Cirette wrote that the two brothers believed that lower-class women were prone to sexual relations and "rejected female classmates who threatened their hegemony on campus".
Some university presidents insist that the gap between college boys and girls may be caused by housing problems. 1930, S.L.Rollins, the male dean of Northwestern University in the United States, said sadly: "It is an undesirable result that people who are brothers have a good life and independent people have a bad life. This kind of inequality in housing is the main reason for (non-Greeks) inferiority complex and their hatred for fraternity men. " Today, it seems absurd and naive for anyone to think that hatred stems from poor housing rather than racial and religious discrimination, but Rawlings and other administrators believe that building good dormitories is a positive intervention that can smooth the torn structure in college life. Therefore, in the early decades of the 20th century, many university leaders lobbied for the establishment of a new dormitory as a democratic substitute for the elite brotherhood.
Before World War II, many dormitories were arranged around quadrangles, just like Cambridge and Oxford, which shut out this bustling city and created a private outdoor space to listen to the boasting of British ancestors. Adams and Tripp Hall of the University of Wisconsin, built in 1924- 1926, is typical. Their backs to Lake Mendota make them comfortable and independent. They are arranged in a square doughnut, and all sides are built at the same height. No one can enter the central courtyard except residents.
Adams and Tripp Hall of the University of Wisconsin took photos on the postcard of 1926, which belongs to this level. The dean of the college (provided by Carly Yanni) hopes to establish the same team spirit as the special fraternity in the college, but it requires engineering skills. Everyone has a single room, so in order to build a community in these single rooms, students are organized into houses, which form a porous layout vertically from the stairs, sometimes called stairs or entrance plane. A pamphlet for Wisconsin students emphasizes that it is possible to divide dormitory life into classes in places like Adams or Terry Pujol, and points out that the sons of bankers and farm boys can chat and relax in front of the crackling logs in the fireplace.
Unfortunately, despite these universal egalitarian claims, there are still obstacles in the dormitory. For example, in Wisconsin or almost anywhere in the United States, black students are not allowed to live in white dormitories. At that time, Carson Gully was an African-American, and he was a popular chef at the University of Wisconsin. Before the civil rights movement (before the mid-1960s), Madison couldn't find the apartment assigned to him by the housing leader in Adams Hall. Instead, in the basement, Gurley's family had to enter through a separate entrance, which reminded people of the servant's door.
Chef Gree's apartment was put into an existing dormitory; In contrast, almost all the spaces at Howard University in Washington were built by black architects for black students. In the history of black colleges and universities like Howard, the social value of dormitory is very high. Black universities represented by acquiring land, pursuing education, successfully promoting African-Americans and a certain dormitory lifestyle have become part of the plan. But this is a personal expense: Howard's student handbook says, "Always remember that Howard is a marked student. Everyone's representative surpassed himself, because the university gave every student honor and reputation.
In particular, the construction of Howard Women's Dormitory (today called Harriet Tubman Courtyard) shows how these spaces are expected to protect and prepare their residents. The building is supervised by Lucy Digges Slowe, a nationally renowned educator, tennis champion and writer, and the founder of the first African-American Association (Alpha centimani). She worked in Howard as a female dean for 15 years. This girl's dormitory was built in 1930s under her strict guidance, which is similar to Adams and Tripp Hall in Wisconsin, because it is a completely closed hall. But its courtyard is bigger, and in order to protect young women, there are fewer entrance points of dormitory isolated from the city. Howard believes that female students need more protection and monitoring, so Alfred Cassell, the architect of the dormitory, arranged the entrance of the room around a long corridor instead of the entrance plan.
Lucy Digges Sloff (fourth from the left in the front row), 1932 In February, the female dean of Howard University, a respected educator in the field of freshman affairs, stood in front of the newly-built female dormitory of the National Professional Organization for Women Deans. (Records of Skolock Studio, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution) is located on the first floor of the quadrangle. At Slough's request, Castle provided an all-round social space, including a living room, a music room and a social hall, which can be used for special parties or daily meals. "A dormitory should be like an orderly home," Slough wrote, "as far as possible"—in other words, a female dormitory is the perfect embodiment of a well-managed home. Students entertain guests in order to learn to be a good hostess and (later) a good wife and mother. Female students need extra living space, partly because they can't get into the boys' dormitory; If a female student wants to date (accompanied, of course), he must go to her dormitory. Slough said that female students at Howard University are being trained to be considerate, polite and hospitable. Socialization is a goal of dormitory life; Dormitories set high standards for social behavior. The beautifully decorated living room and music room are the stage to promote students' moral development.
For decades, American educators have always cherished the transformation space of the Living Museum, so that teenagers can become adult citizens with moral consciousness. Of course, this may seem strange today, and when living in a dormitory, it may also lead to a decline in moral quality.
In any case, in the first few weeks of the fall semester, students should stop and think more deeply about the physical space of their dormitory. What possibilities does it offer? Did it strengthen class and racial division, or did it break social expectations? The corridor is convenient for monitoring students, but it echoes